South Korean diesel-electric submarine with an air-independent power plant "Son Wonil" (German Type 214, the export version does not provide for demagnetization of the hull and assemblies to hide from the sensors of magnetic anomalies of enemy anti-submarine aircraft) in surface mode
The Asia-Pacific region has been in the geostrategic focus of the world's leading superpowers for over a decade. And it is in this vast region that the implementation of the most ambitious military-strategic plans of the United States and its allies to ensure complete domination over the armed forces of the PRC and Russia is coming. The policy of the United States and the main Western European states quickly lost a significant part of its specific weight immediately after the start of a large-scale air strike operation by the Russian Aerospace Forces against ISIS fighters.
HOW THE WEST "SYRIAN LEVERS" LOST
During the operation, dozens of facts were revealed that were far from in favor of the West: the Russian military aviation, with its powerful pinpoint strikes, showed that the powerful and modern US Air Force did not at all seek to destroy the IS infrastructure. And directly the United States with its main allies in the Mediterranean and Western Asia (Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar) generally "lost" face in front of the world community due to the direct logistical support of terrorism in the region with the aim of its own economic and geopolitical benefits. The facts of this were perfectly reflected in photographs and videos taken by optoelectronic complexes of Russian tactical aviation and UAVs, which showed thousands of Daesh trucks with full tanks of Iraqi and Syrian oil, heading straight to the Turkish border.
The success of the Russian strategy in the Middle East was achieved not only due to the excellent performance of the military operation of the Aerospace Forces together with the Land Forces of the SAR against the fortified areas of Daesh and the exposure of the understandable tolerance and loyalty of the US Air Force to the activities of the militants, but also due to the rapid deployment of an unprecedented air defense missile defense system based on the ground SAM S-400 "Triumph" and ship S-300F "Fort", which from now on will provide reliable protection of both the Russian Khmeimim airbase and the government troops of the SAR from any threat from the West or Turkey. On absolutely legal grounds, Russia has established an adequate balance of forces in the skies over Syria, and can dictate its own terms without the risk of losing our military infrastructure as a result of a change of power in Syria or the military aggression of US allies.
For reliable air defense of the airspace of the Khmeimim airbase with the entire airspace of the western part of Syria, as well as blocking the approaches to the missile-hazardous air route of the Turkish Inzhirlik airbase, the Russian Aerospace Forces transferred the S-400 Triumph air defense system to Latakia in full configuration. This photo captures the process of servicing and refueling front-line tactical bombers Su-24M at Avb Khmeimim. In the background, an all-altitude detector (VVO) 96L6E is clearly visible - one of the most important auxiliary radar systems of the S-400. Together with the 91N6E radar detector (RLO), the all-altitude detector doubles the division's viewability. The 96L6E radar operates in the C-band of decimeter waves and is capable of tracking 100 air targets on the passage at speeds up to 10,000 km / h and altitudes from 10 to 30,000 meters. Information about the air situation is transmitted directly to the PBU 55K6E and is used for target designation to the illumination and guidance radar (MRLS) 92N6E. After the appearance of the S-400 in Latakia, the US Air Force was forced to completely change the tactics of using its aircraft over the SAR (standard waypoints were placed bypassing the Triumph's range, and aircraft fly less frequently and in a mode of following the terrain), and the Turkish Air Force in general stopped operating on ATS
PLAYING IN THE MIDDLE EAST, THE USA OPENS THE "SECOND FRONT" IN THE APR
In such difficult conditions, the only loophole for the Americans is control over the Asia-Pacific region, in which the surface and submarine components of the Russian Navy and the Chinese Navy, although they are being strengthened, still continue to yield to the numerous American Navy with dozens of Aegis destroyers and URO cruisers, and also a developed infrastructure of the fleet and air force in the form of bases in Okinawa and Misawa (Japan).
Analyzing the scale of American control in the region, it is worth remembering the agreement between the United States and the Philippines, which recently will again allow the Americans to use the infrastructure of temporarily closed large military facilities created in the 20th century - the Clark airbase and the huge Subic Bay naval base. adapted for the mooring of aircraft carriers, cruisers and destroyers. The water area of the base is approximately 100 km2, and the 30-meter depth of anchorage allows to receive absolutely any existing and not yet developed naval military "transports", floating multifunctional radars, etc. Also in the Philippines (near the Clark airbase), a tropospheric military communications complex has been deployed connecting the Clark and Subic Bay bases with military facilities on about. Guam (AvB Andersen and the Guam naval base of the same name), in Japan, the Republic of Korea, as well as the US Air Force Command in the Pacific and the headquarters of the Pacific Fleet, located in Hawaii.
Two photographs taken by the US Navy show the entire history of the use of the Philippine US naval base "Subic Bay." The bottom photo shows the newest American EM URO DDG-106 USS Stockdale (Flight IIA version), which was launched in 2008. In the top photo you can also see the foundation of the Subic Bay repair and maintenance base - one of five floating docks, the total area of which is 0.2 million m2. The Subic Bay naval base operated in the Philippines for 94 years (from 1898 to 1992), then it was closed for 12 years. And in 2014 it was reopened at the request of the US leadership, which declared the South China Sea a region of its geostrategic interests. The Americans did not need a long wait for the consent of the Philippines, since Manila has a personal territorial dispute with the PRC about the ownership of the Xisha and Nansha Islands, which are part of the Spratly archipelago, and American support and presence only played into their hands
The main value of AvB Clark in the Philippines is the possibility of using tactical aircraft of the US Air Force (F-15E, F-22A, F-35A) in the immediate vicinity of the airspace of the PRC without the need to attract KC-135 and KC-10A tanker aircraft. As you know, the process of refueling military aircraft in a theater of operations creates enormous dangers for both the crew of an air tanker and fighter pilots. From the Clark airbase to the air borders of the PRC, a little more than 1000 km. In addition, the entire southern part of the Middle Kingdom is under surveillance: no state in Southeast Asia, except the Philippines, can provide such broad operational capabilities.
THE THREAT FROM PHYONTHEK AT OUR BORDERS
But the Americans decided to go even further. Washington constantly claims that the main strategy of the United States and its allies in Southeast Asia and on the Korean Peninsula is to maintain "peace and stability", and for this very purpose more than 60% of the US Navy's ship composition will be included in the structure of the US Pacific Fleet (3 7th and 7th operational fleets in charge of the APR). But recently it became known that the US Armed Forces are not going to be limited to the Philippines, Japan, Guam, as well as the modernization of the Taiwan Air Force. In the coming years, the main outpost of the American army in the APR will be the Republic of Korea, which already hosts 2 large Osan and Gyeongsang airbases, as well as the Camp Humphreys military garrison. The two AVBs include the 51st aviation wing of fighter-interceptors (F-16C and the A-10A assault unit), as well as the 8th aviation wing (F-16C / D, equipped with the most modern strike missile weapons and TV / IR sighting and navigation complex LANTIRN); F-16C / D with 40 vehicles, and A-10A with 24 vehicles. The military contingent of the 2 AvB and the Camp Humphreys garrison is already approaching 29,000 people. personnel, and will be increased by 1.5 times (up to 42,000 people) together with the number of military equipment. The expansion of Camp Humphries into a small town is taking place near the South Korean town of Pyeongtaek, just 675 kilometers from the Russian border.
The number of personnel of American military facilities in South Korea will exceed the number of the Finnish Armed Forces, and at the Camp Humphries garrison, the combat aviation of the 2nd Infantry Division, among which there are already AH-64D "Longbow" attack helicopters, will be completed.
Given the minimal remoteness of Pyeongtaek from the border of the Russian Federation, the "pumping" of these military facilities with new equipment and drugs testifies to the long-term plans of the United States for the strategic encirclement of the Russian Federation in the Far East. A similar "yellow" threat level from these US military bases will be well felt by the PLA. The coast of China from the South Korean Pyeongtaek is only 400 km, and from the runway of the Gyeongsang Air Base - 570 km. What does this mean?
US Air Force tactical fighters will be able to use large AGM-158A / B (JASSM / JASSM-ER) cruise missiles directly from the airspace of the Republic of Korea, i.e. under the most powerful cover of the Patriot PAC-2/3 ground-based air defense systems and other air defense / missile defense systems capable of ensuring the complete safety of strike operations “close by” from the adversaries (China and Russia). After the strengthening of Camp Humphreys, South Korea will legally enter the list of strategically most important targets for the tactical and strategic aviation of the Russian Air Force, deployed at numerous air bases in the Eastern Military District. Pyeongtaek will become the most dangerous and close US military facility for the Russian Federation and China in the Far Eastern theater of operations.
Preparing for the acceptance of a reinforced American military outpost on its territory and the Armed Forces of the Republic of Korea. The modernization work of the South Korean army, of course, is carried out under the pretext of increasing the defense capability against the threat from the KPA (Armed Forces of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea).
Pyongyang, being far "away" from the cunning geopolitical turmoil in which the main "players" are involved, was able to perfectly abstract, and formed its own military concept in the Far East, in which the United States and all its "henchmen", regardless of economic benefits and temporary "warming" in relations, act as the main aggressors. The military policy of the DPRK leadership practically does not depend on geopolitical "transformations", and therefore North Korea is "bone in the throat" before the American plans in the Far East. All of a sudden, the KPA missile units can launch a massive missile strike with hundreds of Hwaseong-6 and Medium-range Musudan ballistic missiles, which are capable of reaching the main American bases in the Philippines, Guam and Okinawa. It will not be possible to intercept dozens of missiles even by the forces of the US Pacific Fleet and the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Forces, the subsequent losses are enormous, so this country is feared by most of the pro-Western participants in the APR.
The KPA missile weapon includes more than 200 mobile ground missile systems with BM25 "Musudan" MRBM (pictured). The range of the IRBM is 3500-4000 km, and the mobile platform allows simultaneously launching almost the entire arsenal of these missiles, which will not be destroyed in the required quantity by Aegis, THAAD and Patriot. Even 20-30 BM25 that have broken through will be enough to destroy several large American naval bases within the APR. The US Air Force and Navy cannot yet oppose this KPA weapon, so it will be used much earlier than the installations are destroyed by the Tomahawk or JASSM-ER TFR
At the end of November, information was confirmed that the South Korean Navy and the US government had an agreement on the regular acquisition of the first batches of UGM-84L “Harpoon” Block II anti-ship missiles under a contract approved by the US State Department. The UGM-84L “Harpoon” Block II (“Sub Harpoon”) anti-ship missile is an underwater launch missile, it is launched from standard 533-mm torpedo tubes (torpedo tubes) from a submerged position, the missile's range is 130 km. In 2015, the Korean Navy ordered 19 "Sub Harpoons", in 2012, 18 of these missiles were ordered and received. Why is the emphasis on this modification of the "Harpoons" in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Korea? After all, the tactical fighter aircraft fleet is represented by 160 multipurpose F-16C / D and F-15K "tactics" capable of carrying hundreds of more long-range versions of the "Harpoon" - AGM-84D2 airborne (their range reaches 280 km). The trick here is very tricky and subtle.
For the defense of its naval strike group, the command of the South Korean Navy has provided for all the strengths and weaknesses of the DPRK Navy. It can be assumed with absolute certainty that the Republic of Korea Armed Forces and the command of the American Camp Humphries garrison are considering the possibility of conducting a joint ground operation in the DPRK in the event of an escalation of the conflict, including the landing of troops by American landing ships at docks. Successful implementation of such an operation will require the sudden and rapid destruction of a large number of North Korean surface ships and boats operating in the near sea zone of the DPRK. It will not be so easy to do this, because the North Korean fleet is armed with about 1000, though outdated, but very "nimble" small missile and patrol boats, landing ships and boats and small submarines capable of causing significant damage to several dozen ultra-modern South Korean and American "Aegis" -ships. Moreover, the latter will not be able to approach the shores of the DPRK close enough to open covering artillery fire on coastal targets for the possibility of landing.
It is known that quite modern anti-ship missiles began to enter the armament of the patrol ships of the DPRK Navy and coastal missile units, the appearance and expected characteristics of which are quite comparable to the Russian Kh-35 "Uranus". In mass production, the expense of these products can easily go to hundreds / thousands, which will not allow either the Americans or their South Korean neighbors to calmly own the territorial waters of North Korea.
The indisputable advantage of the underwater launch of the UGM-84L "Harpoon" is the effect of the unexpected approach of the anti-ship missile system. When launching a rocket from a surface ship or a tactical fighter, even the simplest ground and airborne RTR and RER (both passive and active) detect the carrier 300 - 500 km away, which gives time for ground air defense to prepare to repel a strike from a known direction, to detect however, an anti-ship missile system with an RCS of 0.1 m2 suddenly emerging from the water at an altitude of 12-20 m is practically impossible, especially by means of the DPRK AWACS, it will be detected only a few kilometers from the target, after leaving the radio horizon
For this reason, the only viable solution may be the Sub Harpoon SCRC with the UGM-84L Block II missile. Missile carriers can be 9 low-noise diesel-electric submarines of type 209 of national construction and 9 anaerobic (air-independent) diesel-electric submarines of type 214 purchased from the German Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft; the latter are distinguished by ultra-low sonar visibility.
This is where the entire vulnerability of the North Korean fleet will manifest itself. The lack of high-performance processors, highly sensitive electronics with the ability to select complex underwater noises and other "gadgets" for modern SACs, due to the isolation of the DPRK, will play into the hands of the submarines of the Republic of Korea, the United States and Japan, which will be able to enter the territorial waters of the DPRK and open "free" hunting on North Korean warships equipped with primitive sonar stations.
The North Korean Navy has a huge number of torpedo, patrol and patrol boats; there are also missile boats pr. 205 "Osa", class "Sochzhu" and "Huangfeng" in the amount of 35-40 units, at least 15 MPK and over 45 multipurpose submarines, half of which diesel-electric submarines pr.613 and 633, the rest are ultra-small submarines for special operations. Of the large patrol ships, 2 Najin-class frigates can be noted (photo). The radar appearance of the ships leaves much to be desired: on the mast of the main superstructure, various communication antennas are visible, and, probably, navigation radars; on the second mast there is a small radar sight for controlling combat modules with 30-mm AK-230 cannons located between the P-15 anti-ship missile launchers and in the superstructure in front of the rear artillery mounts. Also known is the appearance of an upgraded Najin-class ship called the Nampho. The new frigate dismantled a paired 57-mm AU, 2 oblique launchers of the outdated P-15M Termit anti-ship missile system, and instead of paired AK-230s, the most advanced analogs of the Soviet / Russian AK-630 ZAK modules were installed. Instead of "Termit", two quadruple launchers were installed for analogs of the Kh-35 "Uran" anti-ship missiles, which were tested at the beginning of 2015 (photo below). The ships are practically unable to reflect the impact of modern anti-ship missiles due to the absence of even simple defensive short-range air defense systems of the Osa-MA type
This photograph, taken by the Iranian navy, shows the most dangerous example of North Korean small hybrid landing craft capable of wreaking havoc on some modern US and ROK vessels. This submarine boat belongs to high-speed planing submarines. Its speed in the submerged position is up to 15 km / h (on the electric propulsion), on the surface - up to 90 km / h. An important feature of the machine is the small reflective surface, which becomes even smaller during semi-submerged travel. The RCS of the boat does not exceed the performance of a simple metal buoy, and even less when covered with radio-absorbing material. The submarine boat was purchased by the Iranian Navy
The only panacea for the low stability of the Korean People's Army can only be solid military-technical support from Russia and the PRC: the transfer of more or less modern air defense and missile defense systems, modern models of combat aviation, training of the DPRK Air Force flight personnel in the use of new technology, as well as information support from AWACS aircraft and advanced ground-based RTR facilities.
This is part of both our and Chinese interests, because North Korea is indirectly the last defensive line of deterring the "American military machine" in the Asia-Pacific region, just a few hundred kilometers from its native borders, and this line, despite its excellent strike potential, has full obsolete air defense, which even a single MRAU will not reflect.
The cheeky behavior of South Korean sailors in the Yellow Sea also testifies to the strengthening of the American military contingent and equipment in Pyeongtaek. In early December, in the area of the famous 38th parallel, the South Korean NC opened warning fire on a Chinese patrol boat, catching up with Chinese poachers. The crew of the patrol ship of the Korean Navy explained such actions by the fact that they confused the patrol ship of the PRC with a North Korean warship that entered the disputed area of the Yellow Sea. South Korea had similar situations with the PRC before. For example, in 2011, when two South Korean soldiers fired on a Chinese passenger airliner of Asiana Airlines. Apparently, the South Korean leadership, feeling powerful American patronage, absolutely does not attach any importance to military-political stability with the PRC. And there will be more such "strokes" every year, commensurate with the militarization of the region on the American side.
American military facilities near Pyeongtaek, as well as Osan and Gyeongsang airbases will reach maximum operational readiness before 2020, and therefore the expansion and modernization of the Aerospace Forces fleet in the Eastern Military District and joint Russian-Chinese naval exercises such participation of more modern naval equipment, most of which should be in service with the Pacific Fleet on a regular basis. From 2017-2018 The promising Japanese fighter of the 5th generation ATD-X “Shinshin” will also begin to make its tactical adjustments in the alignment of forces in the Asia-Pacific Region, the serial production of which will inevitably push the promising T-50 PAK FA fighters to the Air Defense Forces.
